No Salvation Outside The Church | TSM #19

Does the Church really teach that there is no salvation outside of her? In a world relativism, this supposed teaching definitely goes against the grain. What does the Church really teach on this topic? Where do we go to find out what the Church teaches on salvation? Please watch and find answers!

Fr. Jay Finelli

148 Comments

Ryan Wofford
on March 4, 2015 at 12:32 pm

Yes it’s true that only through the church you can only be saved. As stated in CCC (846-848). Only through jesus and his church because Jesus and the church are inseparable. In my opinion that is really opinion based how only through the catholic church you can be saved. If other people were raised on other forms of christianity they would not be saved because it is not catholic.

We are lucky to have such a kind and merciful God. Many people don’t see how lucky we are and even though we are religious we are still sinners. God is merciful in the way that he lets sinners into heaven, so I as well agree.

I loved this Truth Still Matters episode. There is salvation outside of the Church for those who do good in their life. There is still saving for those people who do not follow the Church, but they will not know who did the saving. The Lord desires everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth!

I agree with this. In my opinion, people who have not had the opportunity to come to christ, (people born in other religions and never had access to the word of God) and still do good works through God’s will, should be saved

This is very accurate. There is truly salvation outside the church for those who do good in their life. However, I think you need the church for salvation as well and you can’t have one without the other.

When we are talking about The Catholic Church we have to have somewhere to go. The Magisterium is the authentic teaching office of the church and we can access it in a few ways. The Magisterium is made up of bishops, popes, etc. The CCC is a necessity in learning what the Church is. The church is Chirst’s presence on earth. There is no salvation outside of the church. Getting into heaven depends on Jesus and he said nothing clean enters into heaven and no one else can get you into heaven besides Jesus. The head and the body of the church need to be passed on so we can teach others.

Although what you said is true, I still think that people can achieve salvation. People who haven’t had the opportunity that we’ve had to hear the good news, and those who all they have ever known is another religion, through God’s grace, I believe can be saved through good works and God’s mercy.

I agree Mitch, i think you did an awesome job with your comment and how you said that the church is Jesus presence on Earth and also how the Magestarium is made up of bishops and popes. Great job Mitch!!

I agree with you JJ regarding your comment that everyone can be saved, but in the end, I think they will all realize that God was the one who saved them. They may not realize this until they get to purgatory, but once there, they will figure it out.

I really enjoyed this episode of Truth Still Matters, I agreed with everything you said. I to believe that in order to be saved we need Jesus. Even if a person hasn’t had the opportunity to find Jesus, I think that Jesus will find them. Their is no way for anyone to enter heaven without finding Jesus, Jesus said that nothing unclean can enter heaven. Again great video Mr. Sanders.

I agree completely with this Nolan, like Mr. Sanders said, God is always trying to be found by you and he makes himself known in many ways. We just have to accept him into out lives and believe his teachings.

When watching this TSM, it cleared up certain teachings I did not fully understand. Now after watching, I realize that salvation can take place anywhere for any consequence in the right state of mind. For example, if someone who is atheist or does not believe in the Lord can still seek forgiveness once they believe in him even though before they did not know Christ, or were not taught his teachings. He is the only way we can get to our next life, we luckily have the teaching authorities, and everyday life to take advantage of pursuing our mission to get to Christ.

The church is truly Christ’s presence here on earth. This is exactly why it is a necessity to our salvation. Although this might seem confusing to some, it is actually quite simple. The Church is founded by Christ himself, and to one who believes in Him, this right here should be all you need to hear about why the Church is necessary to our salvation. You can’t get to heaven without the Church, and you can’t get to Jesus without the Church.

I agree with you Ryan. Without the Church we might not be able to find Jesus in the way that we do. The Church give us as Gods people a representation of Jesus here on Earth. You are also right that we cannot make it to heaven without the Church and without Jesus.

You are definitely accurate that the church is Christ’s presence on Earth. We can’t be saved unless we come to salvation whether in this life or the next. God sent his only son to start the church so we can keep the presence of his alive. Even if it feels like he is not there sometimes most of us know he is. The church is an essential building block to our faith and the people that have already realized this have a great advantage.

This video helped made me realize some things that i didnt know before. I didnt realize that someone who doesnt know about jesus being the way the truth and the life couldnt be held accountable for not knowing and, therefore, not be condemned to hell. I also learned that nothing unclean can enter heaven. People sometimes forget about purgatory and just think that the person who passed away either went straight to heaven or strwight to hell. If they are going to heaven, then they must go through purgatory to get cleansed of sin before entering the kingdom of heaven.

I did not realize either that someone who doesn’t know couldn’t be held accountable. I have always wondered as well if they would be condemned to hell. I think I sort of understood that nothing unclean could enter heaven though. I have to say I had forgotten about purgatory until it was brought up in class. I wasn’t 100% sure what purgatory is but now it is clear.

I had the same revelation. I always wondered what would happen to people that have never heard about God or any religion. I guess that could occur because Jesus says about the children that they all belong to him. Children are unpredictable and they are so young they don’t understand the world yet. So it would be the same case with a child and a person who has never heard about religion in their life.

This TSM made me realize how important the Church actually is. At first, I thought that the Church was just a place where you go to on Sunday to receive communion and to pray. But now I realize that the Church is Jesus Christ. So if we turn from the Church, we turn from Christ. I also liked how Mr. Sanders explained how getting to Heaven isn’t like a test. This is a sigh of relief, but it shouldn’t be an excuse to say that I can do whatever I want and Jesus will forgive me.

I agree with this Drake. I also didn’t realize the Church is Jesus Christ. Also, I agree with the part where Mr. Sanders says getting into Heaven isn’t like a test, but we shouldn’t use that to be lazy.

There is no salvation outside of the Church. The Church is the body, while Jesus is the head, and the two are inseparable. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. I think we need Jesus in our lives to be saved, but I also believe that people who do not know about Jesus can be saved through His mercy. You need the Church to get to Jesus, and you need Jesus to get to heaven.

Once again another awesome Tsm! I really this one because of some of the points you included such as that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Also that Jesus truly is the Church an in order to talk to the Father you need to talk to Jesus first and i think you did a great job of hitting that on the head. An lastly that you cant get to heaven without Jesus in your life and that really touched me and think you did a great job of that.

When you follow the Church you are entering into a covenant with Jesus and God, but if you don’t follow them then you are rejecting them and saying that they are wrong. There isn’t salvation outside the church and that’s why it is our duty to spread the truth to wherever we go. By spreading the truth we all may enter into heaven and see God’s Kingdom.

This is a good topic for TSM and both sides do have their pros. Personally, I think that there isn’t salvation outside of the church because the church and Jesus are insuperable. Also, you need both in your life and we all do need to be saved. I also believe just like you said in your video, that you cannot go to heaven without Jesus. This TSM really shows that we need both the church, and God in our life and without them, we cannot be saved.

I think I go both ways with how sam feels in his statement, and I think he made a good point at how Jesus and the Church are insuperable. But, I think for those that aren’t in the Church Jesus finds a way to help them find him.

I realize that salvation can take place anywhere in the right state of mind. Someone who does not believe in the Lord can still seek forgiveness once they believe in him even though before they did not know Christ. He is the only way we can get to our next life, he is the connector.

I believe that your point on the truth of Catholicism is very true and backs up our faith really well. Because Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, it is our obligation not just to live a life of faith, but to believe fully in God and his works. If someone openly denies the Church when they have full knowledge of its teaching, they should not be granted Salvation. This is because they openly deny God’s love for them. Some people may not have ever been exposed to the Church, in which case God grants them mercy.

Matt made a great point when he said “If someone openly denies the Church when they have full knowledge of its teaching, they should not be granted Salvation.” What he said was a message from the video, and him saying it again truly makes me realize that I must accept the Church and be a part of it, for I have knowledge of it’s teaching and Salvation.

I agree %100 Lew an open denying of the Church/Jesus with the knowlege of his love and gift of salvation definitely is someone who needs to change their train of thought and at least make small changes and or try to get a better understanding of Salvation.

I really enjoyed this TSM and it really made me understand that we can find salvation outside of the Church especially if we have the mindset on becoming closer to God. It also changed my mindset on people who have not claimed God yet because some people can not be at fault of something they may not yet know or understand. This video also understand that abandoning the Church is almost the same as abandoning Jesus because they are inseparable. It also made me understand how merciful God is because he accepts and loves those who may not even know about him.

I like how you stated that abandoning Church is the same as abandoning Jesus Amani. Spot on! I also agree with your statement where you say that your mindset upon people who have not claimed God yet because they don’t have the knowledge. It is understandable because they are following what they know.

Abandoning the church and jesus ties together perfectly. People who are spiritual abandon the church but believe in jesus. People who use sacred scripture and tradition understand that by abandoning one, you’re abandoning everything

I learned about the fact that Jesus is the head of the Church. The Church cannot live without Jesus because he is the head to the body of the Church. If we do not repent and believe in the Church we cannot be saved. Mr. Sanders said it himself and the CCC states that claim too. God bless and believe in Christ.

Great Episode Mr. Sanders! There will always be salvation for those outside of the Church. If you are good and understand what Jesus has done for us we will be saved. The Lord wants everyone to be saved and come to know of the truth that Jesus came to make one church to save everyone.

Great video, along with the rest! I really liked how you stated that outside the church there is no salvation. I believe that to be true and I think that God decides everything for us and we should follow Him and let him be the way to salvation and righteousness. If you don’t follow the Catholic Church willingly you will not get to Heaven, but if you do it unwillingly God is merciful and will let you into Heaven

Absolutely christian. Jesus and the catholic church are the only way to reach salvation and we should obey all the teachings of them both. Salvation can be reached by others by gods mercy and grace but not if they diliberatly disreguard the truth of the catholic church and jesus. Only then will the not have salvation.

Great TSM! I agree with you completely. I really liked how you said that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus is the way because believing Jesus is the only way that we can be saved. Jesus is the truth because Jesus and the Church are the same. Jesus is the life because without Him, we could not be saved. We need both Jesus and the Church to be saved because they cannot be separated.

I agree with the fact that God is revealing himself. God comes down and tells us that we have access to him and how to do it. That is revelation. For us to be Christians we have to accept or reject but we should always accept because God is the only way. God loves us and desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Great TSM! There is no salvation outside of the Church. Just like the inside of a Twinkie. There is no filling on the outside for a reason. Also, we cannot live without Jesus being the head of the Church.

Well said Mr. Sanders. As usual this topic was clearly explained and backed up by the teachings of the Catholic Church. It only makes sense that without the Church you cannot be saved because Jesus and his Church are one, and head and a body. I also agree with what you said about those who don’t know this through no fault of their own. Jesus is forgiving to those who truly do not know that they can only be saved by the Church. I like how you also linked this to Jesus’ saying that nothing clean can enter Heaven. Obviously the only way to be clean is through the sacraments Jesus established for his Church, which once again is showing how the Church is a must for salvation.
Jesus is the only way to gain salvation, and Jesus is inseparable from his Church.

Great way to recap and further explain this video. Mr. Sanders did a good job backing up his teachings and clearly explained that Jesus is necessary for salvation and him and the church are one and that means the church is also needed for salvation. He also did a good job explaining that others outside the catholic faith will not be punished for not knowing that the catholic church is the truth and will still go to heaven because of jesus’ grace and forgivness. I also liked how he said nothing unclean can enter heaven and the way we are clean is through jesus blood shed on the cross.Jesus IS the only way to reach salvation and the church is necessary for salvation also.

I believe that through the church is the main way to find Jesus, but at the same time I feel that you can find ways to really have a relationship without the church. Like the CCC says Jesus is the church and the church is one with Jesus. Through prayer and reading scripture thoroughly I feel that you can have a relationship with Jesus. Nothing unclean can enter through heaven so a person needs that baptism within themselves to cleanse their souls. I learned through the great TSM that Jesus is the way and the truth, and in order to be with the lord you have to truly know and have a positive relationship with Jesus Christ our savior first.

After watching this TSM, I feel like my ideas about salvation outside of the church has been cleared up. It’s nice to know that people who are not Catholic still have a chance to make it to heaven. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “There is no salvation outside of the church.” and to many people this might seem like a very selfish statement, but Mr. Sanders did a great job finding an exact quote from Jesus that explained why we believe this statement.

I completely agree. Everything has been well explained about salvation and what is required to acquire it. Although our teaching may sound selfish when looking at the deeper meaning we conclude that it is not.

I have often thought about this question myself. I have always wondered if Jewish, Muslim, and Protestant people will go to heaven. Now that I have seen this TSM, I now have a better understanding of the Church’s teaching of this. Thank you for this video Mr. Sanders.

I agree Ryan. The main message from God is “Whoever shall believe in my son, shall have eternal life” John 3:16. But the way to also go to heaven is by going to the Church because it also teaches us things that are happening in the world that prepare us to be careful about.

This was a great video Mr.Sanders. I am very impressed with the new style of the TSM’s. I completely agree with you about outside the Church there is no salvation. This statement was a great topic for this video. Many people truly do believe that salvation can be outside of the Church. The Church is Jesus’s bride so therefore we must have salvation within the Church.

Yet another great and necessary installment of Truth Still Matters. I like how this episode tackles a common argument in and out of the Church. It reiterated the fact that Jesus is the only way to salvation, which should be remembered as the main point of the episode. The point of invincible ignorance was also quite fascinating. God’s mercy is great, and that is clear by what is pointed out in this episode. Once again Truth Still Matters clears up a once cloudy topic.

Great TSM Mr. Sanders. I agree how salvation can only be achieved by the church in which Jesus is married to. In your video I liked when you said ” not going to hell- God desires everyone, it’s about if we respond to his truth in the correct manor.

I also liked the statement that God desires everyone. It shows that God does not just choose the Church as the means to get into heaven. God still wants everyone with him. That shows that the Church is not arrogant and thinks they are the only way to get into heaven.

Thank you for the wonderful video Mr. Sanders. I really enjoyed how much you emphasized how random people cannot receive salvation, but if they come to the lord, then they can. I also enjoyed how you stated the Primary Sources for teaching. Loved the video all in all!

Another great TSM Mr. Sanders! I never realized how important the Church was to our Salvation as well as being able to find Salvation without access to the Church. This TSM also made it more clear that the Church can not exist with Christ. Even if people have not claimed to be one with God yet they can still be saved.

I too also liked the idea that people who are not one with God can still be saved. That shows that even so the Church is the way to God, people who are not part of the Church or know of the church can still be saved.

You can only be saved throught the church and Jesus christ because the 2 are insuperable. As usual Mr. Sanders did a excellent job explaining that you need the church as well as Jesus to be saved. TSM cleared another shady topic of the church. I agree with the video and believe everybody should be granted a chance to enter heaven who deserves it.

This TSM revealed how Salvation can only be achieved through the Bible. Before, I believed that there were many different ways to achieve Salvation. Many different types of people can achieve Salvation, such as faithful Christians, regular Church-goers, and even atheists. Also, Jesus, our Lord and Savior, is the head of Christianity while the Church is the body. This means that both are necessary for Christians to achieve Salvation. A body cannot live without a head, while a head cannot live without a body.

This is by far one of the best explanations for why people need the Church. Jesus and the Church are both insuperable. The Church is Christs true presence here on earth. It leads us to Jesus and his life. While others may say that someone can be saved without the Church, you need the Church. The Church brings about the fullness of Jesus, his life, and his passion and death on the cross. Without the Church we can not experience the full benefit and reward of his suffering.

Excellent video!
“Salvation is not like taking a test!” It is truly amazing the way that you explained everything. We have to firmly believe what we say. Our God is MERCIFUL! It is amazing how salvation is available to all even without knowledge of Jesus.

This was a good TSM episode I thought because of how it talked about not having salvation unless you’re in the church. This is true in many ways. The church is basically the father’s house. Also the bride of jesus Christ. So as we go to Church because of the message the God has revealed to the Pastor/Priest, these are messages God wants us to know so in the world we are prepared to defeat the temptations.

Before I watched this, I was still confused on really what the Church believes in relation to Salvation. This was a great way to really show exactly what the Church believes in relation to salvation. I now understand that this comes from the CCC. We also can’t just hold this to ourselves but share with many others. Salvation still is gifted through Calvary.

I believe that the church is the primary source of being saved but it doesn’t leave out the people that never came to meet Jesus. Certain things like the family you were born into or from what type of background you come from is out of our control and to keep someone from salvation because of those things sounds a little unfair.

Another phenomenal podcast, by Mr. Sanders! This is a video that answers many Catholic and non-Catholic’s questions regarding is the church necessary for salvation. Before, I was not sure about how someone who wasn’t Catholic could get to heaven. But I’m glad that I learned from you about invincible ignorance. This makes me glad to think that Jesus is able to save everyone through God’s grace and mercy. Overall, this was a very informative video and I can’t wait for the next one.

I greatly enjoyed this TSM Mr. Sanders. It strongly nailed the major points that we discussed today in class. I came to a greater understanding about how outside of the Church, there is no salvation (CCC 846-848). The term “invisible ignorance” really stood out to me in that those who don’t have the knowledge that we have as Christians, are still able to achieve salvation. Like you said in class and in this TSM, as long as someone understands a truth that they know to be true, and they give their life to it, then they will also reach salvation. Thank Mr. Sanders and keep up the fantastic work on this extremely helpful videos.

Mr. Sanders I loved the video. I completely agree that it would be an arrogant teaching to say you have to be Catholic to go to heaven. What we must do is be faithful to the truth we are taught whatever that may be. Doing this will allow us to eventually get to heavan

Great video Mr. Sanders! God tells us that everyone on Earth will be saved if they do good in their lives even if they do not follow him because he loves everyone. However, those who do not follow him will not know the true power of God and will not know who they are being saved by. God loves everyone because we are all his creation and even if we do not believe he will still save us. Those who do not believe will just not know the truth of God.

Great TSM, this new green screen really brings more of a moving feeling to the video and makes it more professional. I learned that everyone who believes in christ can be saved. God has such mercy on those who sin and even more mercy on those who sin to the fullest extent. Believing in the church, Jesus, and holy spirit is how i will be saved. I am shocked that even the people who believe in Jesus but not the church can be saved also

I agree that through the Catholic Church is the only way to be saved. Although some who do not know of the church can still be saved through the grace of God just like you said. The Catholic Church is made up of the church as the body and Jesus as the head. Also though it is worth noting that just because you say you are Catholic does not mean that you will be saved. To be saved you must be a active holy member of the Church also.

Great TSM Mr. Sanders really enjoyed it! Salvation is always around the people outside of the church. I learned that nothing unclean can enter heaven and that the only thing clean is the bloodshed on calvery through Christ. Jesus found the church and the church is the Christ. Overall great episode.

Great TSM Mr. Sanders! I now understand that outside of the church there is no salvation. I believe that the church is the primary way in which we can be saved. Everybody who believes in Jesus Christ will truly be saved. Great work Mr. Sanders

Awesome TSM Mr. Sanders. You have taught me to believe that the Church is indeed the primary source of being saved. Believing in Jesus Christ means you are a part of the Church and he will always be there for you. One of my favorite TSMs of the year. Keep up the great work Mr. Sanders!

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About Me

I desire to echo Christ by being faithful to Him and all His teaching communicated and deposited in the Catholic Church. God has graced me with the privilege of being a theology instructor on the seminary and high-school levels. Faith should always seek more understanding!